ORD. XXVIII. Senticose. 503* 
TORMENTILLA ERECTA. - COMMON TORMENTIL, Or 
UPRIGHT SEPTFOIL. 
. oe 
SYNONYMA._ Tormentilla, Pharm. Lond. & Edinb. Tor- 
mentilla Officinalis, Curt. Flor. Lond. Fragaria tetrapetala, 
foliis caulinis sessilibus quinatis. Hal. Stirp. Helv, n.,1117. 
Tormentilla sylvestris, Bauh. Pin. 326. Pentaphyllum aut 
potius Heptaphyllum, flore aureo tetrapetalo, Tormentilla dic- 
tum, Hist. Oxon, Il. 190. 
Class Icosandria, Ord. Polygynia. . L. Gen. Plant. 635. . 
Ess. Gen. Char. Cal. 8-fidus. Petala 4. Sem. subrotunda, nuda, 
receptaculo parvo exsucco affixa. 
Spee. Char. T. caule erectiusculo, foliis sessilibus. 
THE root is perennial, thick, roundish, irregularly conical, 
knobbed, and_covered with bark of a dark brown colour; the 
internal substanee is dense, and has a reddish tinge;-it sends forth 
many stems, which grow about a span high; they are round, 
slender, firm, somewhat hairy, more or foes erect, and branched 
towards the top. The leaves upon the stalk are generally divided 
into seven, but those upon the branches are commonly five; 
of these, three are larger than the others; they are all of an 
eliptical shape, deeply serrated, villous, and the upper surface 
is of a deeper green colour than the under. The flowers stand 
singly upon long peduncles, which spring from the ala of the 
leaves, each flower consisting of four small, roundish, emarginated, 
yellow petals; the calyx is cut into eight unequal segments; the 
pistilla are areas eight, and contain as many seeds. This 
plant is common in dry pastures, and usually flowers in June. It 
is distinguished from the Tormeritilla reptans, by i its sessile leay es; 
its smaller petals, and its more erect stem. _ 
The root is the only part of the plant which is atk medicinally ; 
it has a strong styptic taste, but imparts no peculiar sapid flavour. 
As a proof of its powerful astringency, it has been substituted for 
